Memphis' muddled Workforce Investment Network at risk of state takeover

The taxpayer-financed Workforce Investment Network is still having problems getting the job done, according to state and local officials.

WIN, a city agency that uses public money to train people for jobs and help employers find workers, is again under scrutiny from the state, which is urging the city to turn it into a not-for-profit or risk a possible state takeover.

The state has withheld $11 million from WIN since November 2008 because the agency did not turn in accurate financial information.

"We've let it be with the city now for almost nine years, and it's not working," said Susan Cowden, administrator of the workforce development division of the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. "I think being part of the city has not helped at all. But it's not our decision, it's the local elected officials' decision."

Blair Taylor, president of the business group Memphis Tomorrow, said it is crucial to get WIN on the right footing.

"Memphis has left millions on the table that should have gone to our neediest populations for job-training and job-placement support," Taylor said. "We can't afford any more underperformance...."

WIN operates the Memphis Area Career Center with other partners, including the state, vocational rehabilitation groups and adult-education providers. WIN staff are city employees.

For nearly a decade, WIN's spending and management has concerned the state, which hired a consultant to perform a management and performance review of the center, released last year.

The report found an "internal struggle" at WIN over "trust, authority, roles and responsibilities, organizational structure and communication," and noted a "chronic problem of late submissions of grants, paperwork and general information requests."


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